A fascinating story curiously told.
A whale that died off Canada’s East Coast gets a new life as an exhibit in a West Coast museum.
In 1987, when a dead blue whale washed up on Prince Edward Island, she was buried, in hopes that time would reduce her to a skeleton. Twenty years later, when a crew from the Beaty Biodiversity Museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, came to investigate, it turned out that the clay soil had not done its work. It was humans who unearthed her, stripped flesh, power-washed bones, used degreasing solvents and vapor to remove rancid oil inside the bones, restored and reassembled the skeleton. Big Blue’s bones now hang without an external frame, an 85-foot skeletal centerpiece for the museum since 2010. Miettunen, a museum volunteer, has chosen to tell this unusual story in three ways. First she recounts the events as a bland, lightly fictionalized present-tense text accompaniment to striking color photographs. Then there’s more-challenging exposition of “the true story,” illustrated with smaller photographs showing the process step by step. Finally, there are backmatter sections including short biographies of the team and extensive blue whale facts. The result is a curious hybrid of picture book, museum catalog, and natural-history nonfiction which may puzzle its readers but might also draw a wider audience through its varied approach.
A fascinating story curiously told. (author’s note, resources, credits, bibliography) (Informational picture book/nonfiction. 5-12)Pub Date: June 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-88995-542-4
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
